The Spider Islands. A mysterious ship has completed a treacherous journey to this hidden island chain. Their mission: to capture the legendary monster, Kua'Mau. Thinking they are successful, they sail back to the United States, where the terrifying creature will be displayed at a new luxury casino in Las Vegas. But the crew has made a horrible mistake - they did not trap Kua'Mau, they took her offspring. Now hot on their heels comes a living nightmare, a two hundred foot, one hundred ton tentacled horror, Kua'Mau, Kaiju Mother of Wrath, who will stop at nothing to safeguard her young. As she tears across California heading towards Vegas, she leaves a monumental body-count in her wake, and not even the U. S. military or private black ops can stop this city-crushing, havoc-wreaking monstrous mother of all Kaiju as she seeks her revenge.

Also from Mark Onspaugh and Severed Press!

When a NASA probe crashes in the California desert releasing toxic spores, an unholy plague is unleashed, creating an army of walking dead that cannot be stopped. Tom Meyers has seen these horrors first-hand, as the girl he loves is torn apart and devoured and dead friends return to scratch at his door. Now Tom with a motley band of brothers must fight their way to a rumored haven in the North. As they travel the countryside filled with the rotting and ravenous dead, they find themselves immersed in a perilous new world where people will do anything to survive.

hydra announces onspaugh's DEBUt novel the faceless one

From a brilliant new voice in dark fantasy comes a riveting nightmare of ancient evil unleashed—and the bravery and sacrifice of those called to combat it.

Advance Praise:

“A stunning debut . . . With The Faceless One,Mark Onspaugh has given us a chilling dark fantasy with an Alaskan shamanic backdrop. The beauty of this weird world is as profound as its terror. I could not turn these pages fast enough!” Janet Fitch, author of White Oleanderand Paint It Black“Mark Onspaugh’s writing captures that same eye-popping strangeness I loved so much in the works of Charles Beaumont and Fritz Leiber. The Faceless One is classic horror from an author who has earned his stripes and knows how to scare you blind.” Joe McKinney, Bram Stoker Award–winning author ofDead CityandThe Savage Dead

“The story line grabs you around the throat and keeps your eyes on the book. . . . Are you ready to go on a road trip with a demon? Get a copy and dig in.” Journey of a Bookseller

more about the book:

In 1948, when he was just a boy, Jimmy Kalmaku trained with his uncle to be the shaman of his Tlingit village in Alaska. There he learned the old legends, the old myths, the old secrets. Chief among them was that of a mask locked in a prison of ice, and of the faceless god imprisoned within: a cruel and vengeful god called T'Nathluk, dedicated to the infliction of pain and suffering.

Now all but forgotten in a Seattle retirement home where his only bright spot is his friendship with George Watters, Jimmy finds his life turned upside down. For when an unwitting archaeologist pries the mask free of its icy tomb, he frees T’Nathluk as well. Stuck in spirit form, the Faceless One seeks a human to serve as a portal through which he can enter our reality. The Faceless One can control—and mercilessly torture—anyone who touches the mask, which means there is no shortage of slaves to ferry it across the country to its chosen host.

Yet the Faceless One has foes as well: Stan Roberts, a tough New York cop whose pursuit of justice will lead him into a dark abyss of the soul; Steven, Liz, and Bobby, the family of the doomed archaeologist; and Jimmy Kalmaku, who must at last become the shaman of his boyhood dreams.

Mark Onspaugh is a California native and the author of over forty published short stories. Like many writers, he is perpetually curious, having studied psychology at UCLA, exotic animals at Moorpark College's EATM program, improv comedy with the Groundlings and special effects makeup. Mark has also written for film and television. He currently lives in Cambria, California with his wife and two peculiar cats. THE FACELESS ONE is his first novel.

Always fresh and original, Mark Onspaugh, author of the popular new "Christmas Ghost Stories," brings us another thematically organized collection in his new book "Dark Valentines." Unexpected twists on the classic themes of love, loss, passion and horror are included in this bouquet of old and new offerings from Onspaugh's fertile imagination.

Among the previously published stories are "The Broken Hand Mirror of Venus," nominated for a prestigious Pushcart Prize, "A Sweet Girl for Todd" a lonelyhearts tale that exposes the dark side of the tanning industry, and the hauntingly heartbreaking "Song of Absent Birds," which explores the true meaning of love in the post-apocalypse.

New stories include the sweepingly timeless romance of "Let My Love Carry Me Home," a few comedic turns such as "Cupid Versus Dracula" and three new Red Lion fairy tales which readers of Christmas Ghost Stories have loved so much.

DESCRIPTION:No Christmas stocking will be complete without the "scary ghost stories and tales of the glories Of Christmases long, long ago" promised by this tantalizing collection of dark, fantastical and romantic "winter tales" from the pen of writer Mark Onspaugh.

Sometimes funny, sometimes scary and occasionally bittersweet, this collection of Christmas ghost stories is perfect fare for sharing aloud by the fire or cuddling with someone (or something!) toasty on a moonless December night.

Featuring well over a dozen stories which can be read alone or sewn together, Onspaugh's original Christmas Ghost Stories entertain with supernatural flights of fancy, mysterious creatures and four interwoven fairy tales from the shadowy Black Forest.

Nominated for a prestigious Pushcart Prize, writer Onspaugh is delighted to have been compared to his favorite authors Ray Bradbury and Stephen King. He has several new collections of short stories and a novel Kushtaka coming soon.

Advanced praise for Christmas Ghost Stories:

"Mark Onpaugh's sixteen ghostly Christmas tales make the ideal read for filling cozy winter evenings with delectable shivers and chills. So pour your eggnog and settle in by the fire for a jolly haunted night!"

"How do you know you’re reading a Mark Onspaugh short story? I’ll tell you. You’ll laugh. Your skin will chill and crawl. You’ll find yourself marveling that a writer can do so much so very well, all the while moving with a screenwriter’s sense of pace and economy of words. But most importantly, you’ll find yourself by turns surprised by love, warmed by the comforts of family, terrified by madness, and struck numb by sudden agony. Comparisons to Ray Bradbury will be, I think, inevitable…and far from out of place. Onspaugh is a gift to all lovers of the weird, and this book, a perfect sampling of his extensive range. Spend an evening this winter season with this collection and I know you’ll thrill to it just as I did."

"Reading this book is like finding blood at the bottom of your glass of egg nog. You start off with something tasty and familiar and then everything goes to hell! Mark Onspaugh has taken all that is good and holy about Christmas and turned it into something terrifying -- the way it should be!"

JW Schnarr, award-winning journalist and author, Alice & Dorothy

"Whether you've been naughty or nice, these stories are a welcome holiday gift. Like snowflakes, they are uniquely individual adding up to a storm of pleasure that should jingle your bells!

Harvey Jacobs, author, Side Effects and American Goliath

"With Christmas Ghost Stories, Mark Onspaugh gives us stories full of longing, regret, and fear to while away those winter nights. There's even the occasional dash of whimsy, and the sudden hammer strike of horror waiting for when you least expect it. Onspaugh's collection runs the gamut of human emotions and will keep you enthralled until the last page is turned."

Mark's story "The Broken Hand Mirror of Venus" from War of the Worlds: Frontlines (ed. by JW Schnarr) has been nominated for a prestigious Pushcart Prize which bestows honors on America's best small presses.Read more(This story is now included in the collection Dark Valentines!)

NEW: Read an excellent Q&A with Mark from One Buck Horror, publishers of his poignant story "A Lullaby for Caliban", which they compare to Bradbury and King.NEW: Voice artist Ian McMillan reads Mark's story "Welcome to the Federation"free download

Mark is also in the original Blood Lite - and he will soon be in the next Blood Lite III - a rare triple hitter for this popular series produced by the Horror Writers Association! see hisauthor page at Amazon for more of his books & stories

Kill Katie Malone

Watch the the official trailer for the Onspaugh penned film "Kill Katie Malone" ~ now represented by American World Pictures.

It showed to good insider buzz at the DGA and the European Film Market at the Berlinale in 2010.

works in progress/projects

Mark's family friendly script "My Summer As A Superhero" is under option with Greg Feldman of Etosha Films, and he continues to work on several new projects while seeking representation.

In the fiction category, Mark is thrilled to announce his new holiday collections - Christmas Ghost Stories and Dark Valentines - have been followed by the science fiction Tales From Tomorrow. Up next: the creature collection A Mayhem of Monsters and the undead collection Z is for Zombies. These will be arriving later in 2015, under the umbrella of his own new publishing imprint Dark Ride Media. He is also at work on several more novels for Severed Press.

In 2011 - 2013, Mark wrote a series of television and TV movie reviews for Cinema Knife Fights. You can read the collection of his commentary online under the Remote Outpost heading.

In 2011, he was honored to have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize for his work with Northern Frights. In the past three plus years, Mark has sold more than four dozen short stories and an academic essay on slasher films. Some of those stories are being re-packaged now in collections of his work, along with new material.

Finally, he is collaborating with Joe McKinney on a horror anthology, The Forsaken, for his new imprint, Dark Ride Media. It will be somewhat similar to Joe's earlier zombie anthology Dead Set for which Joe is the co-editor and in which Mark also has a story. See a short promo below....